Africa is a continent of extremes. It’s extremely large, extremely dry, extremely ‘gifted’, and extremely young. In fact, over half the continent is under the age of 25.

Read on to find out 30 rare but interesting facts that you might not know about Africa.

30. All of Africa was colonized by foreign powers during the “scramble for Africa”, except Ethiopia and Liberia.

29. There are 54 countries and one “non-self governing territory”, the Western Sahara, in Africa.

28. Before colonial rule Africa comprised up to 10,000 different states and autonomous groups with distinct languages and customs.

27. Over 25% of all languages are spoken only in Africa with over 2,000 recognised languages spoken on the continent

26. Arabic is spoken by 170 million people on the continent, followed in popularity by English (130 million), Swahili (100), French (115), Berber (50), Hausa (50), Portuguese (20) and Spanish (10).

25. Africa is the second most populous continent after Asia with about 1.1 billion people or 16% of the world’s population.

24. The continent’s population will more than double to 2.3 billion people by 2050.

23. Over 50% of Africans are under the age of 25.

22. Africa is the world’s poorest and most underdeveloped continent with a continental GDP that accounts for just 2.4% of global GDP.

21. About 40% of adults in Africa are illiterate

20. The Second Congo War (also known as the Great War of Africa 1998- 2003) claimed over 5.4 million lives and is the deadliest worldwideconflict since World War II.

19. The Sahara is the largest desert in the world and is bigger than the continental USA.

18. There are fewer people with internet connections in Africa than there are in just New York City.

17. Africa is the world’s second driest continent (after Australia).

16. There are over 1 million Chinese citizens on the African continent. Angola alone has a population of over 350,000 Chinese.

15. Deforestation rates in Africa are twice the average for the rest of the world with more than four million hectares of primary forest disappearing every year.

14. Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and the second-largest freshwater lake in the world.

13. Megafauna like giraffe, zebra, gorilla, hippopotamus, chimpanzee and wildebeest are unique to the continent and only found here.

12. Lake Malawi has more fish species than any other freshwater system on earth.

11. Africa has over 85% of the world’s elephants and over 99% of the remaining lions are on the African continent.

10. The great Nile River is the longest river in the world with a total length of 6,650 kilometres.

09. The Serengeti (Tanzania) hosts the world’s largest wildlife migration on Earth with over 750,000 zebra marching ahead of 1.2 million wildebeest as they cross this amazing landscape.

08. Africa has over 25% of the world’s bird species.

07. Over 1,270 large dams have been built along the continent’s many rivers.

06. The most populated city in Africa is the Egyptian capital of Cairo with an estimated 17 million residents in the metropolitan area.

05. The largest country in Africa is Sudan with a total area of 967,490 square miles (2.5 million square kilometers), and the smallest country is the island nation of The Seychelles with a total area of just 175 square miles (453 square kilometers).

04. The largest religion in Africa is Islam, followed by Christianity.

03. The oldest human remains ever discovered were found in Ethiopia. They are approximately 200,000 years old

02. Africa is the most centrally located of all of the continents with both the prime meridian (0 degrees longitude) and the equator (0 degrees latitude) passing through it.

01. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, with an estimated population of about 150 million people. Egypt is the second most populous country with over 76 million people.

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My continent Africa is loaded with potentials that have the capability of making her the world centre of attraction.